Thank you SureFire!

Five days a week, 50 weeks a year, for six solid years. That’s how long it took me to break my SureFire flashlight. You have your “every day carry” flashlight, I have my work flashlight. I’m an inspector for a large insurance company. I make my living going into places and inspecting things. Dark places. Many of them in basements and crawl spaces, construction sites, and industrial locations. Some are really not what you would call “hospitable” places.

When I started this job, and coincidentally got married at the same time, my brother sent me a SureFire E2L Outdoorsman (this link is to the new, dual output version) flashlight as a wedding gift. He said I’d probably need it. He was right. It’s been my constant companion on the job since the day I started.

I’ve changed company cars 3 times, computers twice, and ran through more pens than I can possibly count, but I’m still carrying the same flashlight. I’ve dropped it so often that the strike bezel had extra crenelations. I’ve stepped on it and kicked it across the floor. And when I go into prisons and they take away my pepper spray and pocket knife, I still get to carry my flashlight. Until one day two weeks ago when I finally did something to it that it couldn’t take.

So what did SureFire say when I told them my $130+ (at that time!) flashlight had finally broken? They said “send it back.” Today, magically in my mail, here it is.

The tailcap and bezel are new. The light is new. The batteries are new. In fact, the only thing not new on this flashlight is the metal body and the clip. They included a free sticker too.

My next firearm related purchase will be a weapon light for my AR. I’m thinking that I should check out what SureFire has. I’ll bet that it will be tough enough to deal with my Shleprock attitude towards equipment. I was also considering getting an E1L flashlight for my wife to tuck in her purse. It’s nice to have a portable searchlight handy. And if you need something to signal passing satellites, my father has one of these monstrosities. I want one!

Thanks, SureFire. And thanks, Brian. It’s been a great wedding present.

FTC Disclaimer: I didn’t tell SureFire I was a blogger when I sent in my flashlight for warranty repair. They didn’t charge me for repairs because that’s their standard policy.

To be honest, before my brother gave me this flashlight I felt the same way. I knew they were good flashlights, but I was sure I’d lose or break the thing. Apparently they are strong enough to last 6 years without me breaking them. Also, it looks like I’ve grown up enough that I’ve started paying attention to where I leave my stuff. Who would have guessed that would happen?

I have carried the E1b Backup daily for 2 years. I have torn the rubber off of the tailcap once and broken the clip twice. I make a phone call and 3 days later there are new parts in my mailbox. no questions asked – the customer service is great.

Thank you for posting this. Some years ago, I purchased a SureFire flashlight (don’t recall the model). It quit working after a few weeks, so I took it back to the store where I purchased it. The bulb was shot, and the guy behind the counter asked if I had dropped it. After thinking about it, I recalled that I had dropped it (onto carpet that had thick padding underneath). The upshot was that I had to pay for a new front end for the light.

It’s been a pretty good light since then, though I have moved on to an LED flashlight for both increased brightness and battery life. But I felt that a light with “defense bezel” shouldn’t break on soft carpet, though I wasn’t sure whether to blame SureFire or the store. Therefore I haven’t done business with either since then.

For a carbine light, buy a Fury w/o the “defender’ bezel and never look back. Bravo Co. has the “EAG” model for $120 that is really just the standard dual-output with a trace on the PCB cut to make it single output. Hundreds of thousands of rounds under these to prove they are a viable weapon light, and you simply cannot beat the 500 lumens and amazingly broad splash. All that for a fraction of what a scout model costs (there are advantages to the mount being integral to the light’s design in a scout, but most of us would never realize the difference).